Perjury, drug counts for police informant

A paid informant working for the Schenectady County Sheriff’s Office was arrested on drug and perjury charges for allegedly lying to a grand jury about planting crack cocaine at Scotia smoke shop, causing the store’s owner to be arrested.

James Slater, 22, faces 14 counts of perjury and four drug charges in connection with a two incidents in March at Donald Andrews’ Smoke Shop. While working as an informant, Slater allegedly planted a piece of crack on one of the smoke shops’s tables, took a picture of it and then accused Andrews of trying to sell him drugs.

Andrews could not be reached for comment Monday, but he told the Times Union in April that several sheriff’s deputies and Scotia police officers stormed his business, handcuffed him and ushered him into a back area, repeatedly telling him he was being arrested for selling cocaine and that he’d better fess up. The officers confiscated his cash register, cellphone, wallet, cash and the store’s security cameras.

The footage, which was later released by Andrews’ attorney, Kevin Luibrand, shows Slater, wearing a leather jacket, placing a small packet of crack cocaine near the edge of the shop’s glass counter, snapping a picture with a tiny camera, scooping up the package and slipping it into his pocket.